


Brothers' Keeper

by soongtypeprincess



Series: The Family Soong [5]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Past Child Abuse, Sibling Bonding, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 02:33:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3878854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soongtypeprincess/pseuds/soongtypeprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day after Laurence leaves his childhood home from a tumultuous holiday, he stops by Willowbrook to pay his older brother a visit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This addition is multi-chapter, FYI.
> 
> I DO NOT OWN THE TNG CHARACTERS UPON WHICH MY AU ONES ARE BASED.

“Come on, dammit,” Laurence growled. “Stay down!”

He glared into his car’s rearview mirror as he spat into the palm of his hand. He roughly wiped it over the cowlick that he was impatiently trying to comb down just behind his right ear only to have it bounce back up again. He never did get a full night’s rest. How could he with his left eye still slightly throbbing from hitting the corner of his father’s dining room table? He had only compressed the wound with a frozen bag of peas for under a minute, and the wound was becoming a purple, crescent-shaped mark just above his cheekbone.

After leaving the house, he drove for over two hours before fatigue started to set in, and he parked his car under a large tree in a community park so that he could try to get a decent nap before continuing his journey. The heavy rain, however, pelted so violently on his car roof all night, and he was only able to doze for about half an hour. He groaned as he climbed out of the back seat and behind the wheel once more. As he drove along the park’s roadway, he had spied a restroom near the jungle gym. He parked in front of it and grabbed a clean shirt from his duffle bag, hoping that the doors were unlocked and hoping that he wouldn’t find any trouble.

He had to freshen up.

“Ah, fuck it!” he finally said, grouchily throwing his comb into his glove compartment and slamming it shut. He checked his reflection once more and mentally kicked himself for not swiping some concealing powder from his mother’s vanity. It would have covered up the wound very well. He rubbed his slightly bristled cheeks as he took a deep breath and picked up a large brown parcel from the passenger side floor.

His appearance wasn’t too bad, he thought, and it would probably go unnoticed.

“What in the hell happened to you?” Tasha asked him, frowning as he approached the front desk.

He cleared his throat, reaching for the pen that rested on the guestbook. He signed his name in lazy strokes and wrote the time for 7:47am.

Tasha raised an eyebrow, surprised that the stubborn middle Soong brother was actually complying with the home’s guest regulations. “Where’s Danny?” she asked.

“Last I checked, honey,” Laurence replied in a low, tired voice. “Danny and I are not conjoined. I’m here to see my brother, of course.”

Tasha placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward. “What makes you think he wants to see you after you stormed out on your birthday?”

“Spare me the lecture,” he told her. “I have a right to see him.” He eyed her with a solemn expression and removed his jacket to place it over the parcel he was carrying.

Her own stern countenance did not change. The Laurence that she was familiar with was always slightly drunk and trying to hit up the med aides, and his current unshaven, puffy-eyed appearance still made her uneasy. However, she bit her lip and walked around the desk, motioning for him to follow her.

He trailed behind her to the dining room where he caught a glimpse of Billy sitting at a small table by the window. He was eating a piece of toast with lots of strawberry jam and reading the black and white comics from that day’s newspaper.

A lump appeared in Laurence’s throat as he watched Tasha approach him. He had a sudden urge to turn around and get back in his car, to drive away like he had never made up his mind to come to the home. But he stayed in the doorway and waited patiently.

Tasha gently tapped Billy’s shoulder and he turned to her, chewing on a piece of his toast. “Morning, Tasha,” he told her before going back to his comics.

“Billy…” she whispered to him, leaning close to him. “You have a visitor.”

“Who is it?” he asked, as he started to read Garfield.

“Your brother is here to see you.”

“Danny’s here?”

Tasha sighed but forced a smile. “No, hon. Not Danny.”

Billy was confused, but then gasped loudly as he dropped his toast onto his comics. He looked over at the doorway and saw his younger brother, who gave him a big smile.

“Laurence!” Billy shouted as he jumped out of his chair, making the other residents jump in surprise. He trotted over to him, his arms already stretched out for a hug and Laurence was nearly knocked off his feet as Billy flung himself into him, making the parcel and his leather jacket fall to the floor.

Laurence tried to match the strength with which his older brother was hugging him. He sniffed to restrain the tears once more and swallowed the lump back down into his chest as he gently pushed Billy away and held his face in his hands.

He let out a throaty laugh as he wiped the toast crumbs off his brother’s chin before swiping away a tear under Billy’s eye.

Billy reached out and patted his brother’s stubbly cheek. “Hi, Laurence,” he said in shaky voice.

“Hey, Brother,” Laurence replied, moving one of his hands to Billy’s shoulder. “Do I really look that bad?”

Billy sniffed as he shook his head. Laurence ran his fingers through Billy’s dark, messy locks. “Geez, Bill. Who combed your hair? Stevie Wonder?”

“It’s messed up,” he said, quietly, but then looked away to hide a sneaky smile. “Like your face.”

Laurence cocked his head and smiled.They looked at one another for a moment until Billy moved closer again to rest his head on Laurence’s shoulder.

Billy squeezed his waist. “Did you get in a fight?” he asked.

“Long story,” Laurence told him, moving away again to pick up his items from the floor.

Billy attempted to take the package, saying, “What’s in here?”

Laurence gently pulled it out of his grasp. “It’s a surprise.”

Billy looked at him, his bright blue eyes shining hopefully. “For me?”

His brother didn’t answer but just motioned toward Billy’s table. “Go on. Finish your breakfast. I’ll wait for you in your room.”

“No!” Billy exclaimed and grabbed his wrist. He tugged Laurence behind him back into the dining room. “Sit with me! Tasha will help your bruise. Won’t you, Tasha? Can you fix my brother’s face?”

“If there’s a God,” she muttered as she stepped aside so that her excited charge wouldn’t knock her over on the way back to his table.

“You need food, too, Laurence,” he continued. “That will help you feel better.”

Laurence sat down. “I’m not very hungry,” he said.

“Just eat a little,” Billy insisted. “The toast is good. Oh! They have coffee. I know you like coffee. I hate it. It tastes like chalk. You have to eat. Just a little. I’m your big brother. I know best because I’m the oldest.”

“Ugh, here we go,” Laurence playfully groaned. “You’re not that much older and smarter than me, you know?”

“I’m three minutes smarter! We were born three minutes apart so I’m three minutes ahead of you.” Billy giggled at his own joke.

He started to walk over to the coffee bar until Tasha stopped him, a tube of ointment in her hand. “Honey, I’ll get it for him. You finish your food.”

Billy nodded and sat in his seat again and watched Tasha bend lower toward his brother. She made no eye contact with Laurence and ignored his irritated groans as she applied the ointment over his wound. “It’s starting to open a bit,” she said. “So this cream will help. You should have put on an ice pack when you got it since there’s still swelling.”

“Gee,” Laurence whispered sarcastically. “Never thought of that. You are so smart. Did you finish at the top of your cla—ow!” He yelped as she slapped a bandage over the ointment.

She rose again and looked down at him, her fist on her hip. “How do you take it?”

A mischievous grin spread across Laurence’s face. “Why, Tasha…” he purred.

“ _The coffee_ ,” she said in an ominous voice.

He placed his belongings on the floor by his chair. “Two sugars…thank you.”

Tasha walked away as Billy chewed on his toast again. He leaned forward toward Laurence and whispered, “See? All better. I know best because I’m the oldest. You forget that sometimes.”

“I guess I do,” his younger brother replied as he rubbed his tired eyes.

“Breakfast is important. So is bathing. You smell like old clothes. And cheese, but not the good kind! Like…the kind Papa Ira used to eat with his liverwurst and crackers. Remember? It was smelly, like you are now. Oh! You can use my shower. And I have some shirts you can change into, and—“

“Hey,” Laurence interrupted his excitable sibling. “I’m not moving in. I’m just visiting.”

Billy took a sip of his orange juice and nodded. He looked at his lap. “I know…” he muttered sadly. “All day?”

Laurence sighed. “I can’t stay too long.”

The older brother licked his lips. “Can we…can I show you my tree?”

“You have a tree?”

“Yeah!” Billy said, his face brightening up again. “We have a garden here and a hot house and I have tree.”

“What kind of tree?” Laurence was now intrigued.

Billy shook his head. “You have to stay longer to find out.”

Laurence shrugged and nodded in agreement. “Fine…we’ll look at your tree.” He observed some of the residents smiling at them. The others, however, were giving Laurence suspicious side-eyed glares, and he knew they were making it a point to chat softly so they could witness first-hand this rare visit.

Laurence’s ears began to burn, but he let out a grateful sigh when he heard Billy's voice boom. “My brother came to visit! My little brother…” he announced to them, proudly. He reached out and patted Laurence’s hand as Tasha approached with his coffee.

Even she couldn’t help but give them a smile.

“Will you stay for lunch, too?” Billy asked his brother as his nurse walked away. “We’re having my favorite: egg salad. I know you hate eggs but I like the egg salad here. Maybe they can make you something else. You’re my brother. They’ll do it for me.”

Laurence leaned toward him, whispering, “Well, Bill, I was kind of hoping we could go out for a burger.”

“Really?” he exclaimed with a wide smile. He then leaned back and creased his brow in concern. “I don’t think I can, Laurence,” Billy said. “I usually don’t leave unless we take a day trip. Sometimes we go to the museum or the park…or one time we went to the zoo...I didn’t stay long, though.”

“You’ll be with me, man,” his brother told him. “You’ll be okay.” He leisurely sipped his coffee as they spoke.

“I know, but…” Billy suddenly looked down at his lap again and started to twitch his fingers.

Laurence watched him. “What’s wrong?”

Billy raised his eyes to him again, saying, “I don’t like to go away sometimes…”

“What? You just said that you go on day trips.”

“Yeah, but I don’t like it all the time,” he explained. “Tasha says it’s good that I try…and I do try, but…what if we go out today…and I don’t like it…I don’t want to not like it. You’re my brother and you…I want to have a burger with my brother…but I don’t know if I can…I like to go outside, but I…I don’t…”

Laurence set down his coffee as he rose from his chair, sitting in the one next to his brother. He had forgotten that his brother was practically fixed in a steady routine. He always had been since they were kids. His brother also didn’t like being in public places where there were lots of people. There was never a problem when the family would go camping when he and his brothers were younger, but Billy never fared well around crowds.

How could he forget that? How did Laurence suddenly forget all the times they went out as a family and Billy would start to cry because he wanted to be in his room or be in his sandbox in the yard? Had it really been that long since he visited here? No. He visited last year on their birthday. Or was it the year before? Or before that?

He softly held Billy’s twitching hands. “Hey…” Laurence whispered. “It’s okay. We don’t have to go anywhere. I can stay here with you and we don’t have to go out.”

“Really?”

“Sure, man. I’ll stay through lunch. I’ll have some chips or something.”

“Okay. Sorry…” he whimpered as he tucked his dark hair behind his temple.

Laurence squeezed his hand. “You have no reason to be sorry.” He noticed that Billy’s fingers stopped trembling and he let go of his hands.

His brother continued to gaze at him until he reached up and once again patted Laurence’s stubble. “You need to shave,” he stated in a serious tone.

Laurence laughed. “I know.” He stood to put on his jacket. “Show me this tree of yours.”

Billy smiled. “Okay. I need to go get my sneakers from my room, first. I don’t like dirty slippers. It’s muddy outside from all the rain. You didn’t get stuck in the rain, did you?”

Laurence picked up the parcel from the floor. “For a little while,” he said. “Get your coat, too; it’s a bit chilly out.”

“Haha! You sound like Mom. She was always worried we wouldn’t have a coat.”

“Or clean underwear,” Laurence quipped. Billy laughed out loud as he ran his fingers through his unkempt hair.

Laurence followed him out of the dining room and down the hallway, stopping every now and then to be introduced to everyone they passed, even the residents who were sitting quietly in their rooms.


	2. Chapter Two

After Laurence helped Billy into his coat and red wool beanie cap, he set the package on the bed. “What’s in there?” Billy asked him again.

“You’ll see later on,” Laurence told him with a sly grin. “You ready?”

“Yeah!” Billy’s face was beaming as he led Laurence out of his room. “I have to go see Tasha first. I have to take my medicine since I just had breakfast. I have to take it on a full stomach or I get really sick.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Laurence said, surprised. “Why do take medicine? You look fine to me.”

“I get the shakes,” Billy said, casually. “That’s what Dad calls them.”

“You still have seizures?”

Billy stopped and looked at Laurence, amused. “I’ve always had seizures,” he replied, plainly. “Since I was a baby. Dad said I had them all the time since I was a baby. And I still have them if I don’t take my medicine.”

Laurence watched his brother continue his journey down the hall and to the med cart. “No, you didn’t,” he said under his breath. Laurence really didn’t remember Billy ever having seizures before the accident. “Why would Dad tell you—?”

His eyes widened and his ears began to burn again. He was correct: Billy never had seizures until a couple of years after the accident. Yet, their father told him that he was born that way.

Laurence frowned as his heart began to beat hard against his chest. He stomped down the hallway to catch up to Billy as Tasha handed him a small paper cup along with a cup full of water. “What is that?” he asked abruptly.

“Primidone,” she replied, not looking at him. “For the seizures. Then, he has to take 2mg of lorazepam twice a day.”

“And what is _that_?”

She sighed as she handed Billy another small cup fill with oddly colored liquid. “It’s for anxiety.”

“My brother does not have anxiety,” he disagreed as he glared at her.

Tasha looked at him strangely. “Oh, yeah? You really weren’t home very much after all, then.”

“Watch it…” he warned her.

“It’s obvious, though, isn’t it?” she asserted, her hands now on her hips. “Are you in that much denial? You know Danny wasn’t the only one that had a panic attack after you stormed out of here months ago!”

“Stop it!” Billy demanded as he stood between them. He drank the last bit of water from his cup and wiped his mouth. He gave the cup back to Tasha and hooked his arm in Laurence’s. “He’s not leaving. He promised.”

Tasha huffed as she slammed the top drawer of her med cart and pushed it down the hallway to another room.

The brothers made their way out the back entrance of the home where the sun greeted them through a cold, brisk wind. They walked down a red brick path, passing a few old wooden benches and flower boxes, some filled with barren potting soil and others filled with bright chrysanthemums. There were small fir trees and young dogwoods in the courtyard area and, hanging from a brass hook on a large pole, a yellow bird feeder that was shaped like a tiny house.

Billy pointed to it. “Sometimes I come out here and I sit on the bench and watch the squirrels. They fight the birds for the food. It’s fun to watch. They eat a lot and they’re really fat.” He smiled as he unhooked his arm from his brother and trotted over to the feeder. “It’s empty!” he called to him. He looked up into one of a tall oak tree as if making sure the squirrels were waiting. “There’s food in the hot house though.”

“Well, let’s feed them on the way back,” Laurence said, hunching his shoulders as he felt a chill through his leather jacket. “Where’s this tree, then?”

Billy joined him on the trail again and jogged toward the hot house. “This way!”

Laurence followed him inside and was met with satisfying warmth as he shut the door behind them. “Oh, thank God…” he sighed as he shivered off the rest of the cold.

“Over here, Brother,” came Billy’s voice in the back of the house.

Laurence’s feet crunched the dirt and rocks beneath him as he approached Billy who was now standing beside a small potted tree that was dotted with bright yellow. “Oh, wow,” he said, genuinely impressed. “It’s a lemon tree.”

“Like the one we had at home!” Billy proudly declared. “It’s really easy to grow. I just water it when it’s almost dry and then when it’s warm outside, I take it out of the hot house and put it in the sun for a while. Look! They’re getting big. Remember? We had one in the backyard?”

“I’ll be damned,” Laurence said. “My brother has a green thumb.”

Billy laughed. “A what?”

Laurence coughed. “Nothing. I mean…you’re a good gardener.” He walked closer to the tree and carefully touched one of the lemons. “I had forgotten that Mom had one of these. It was bigger though.”

“Yeah…” Billy said quietly. “I’m not allowed to have a big one. I would get one, though, if I was allowed. That way I can give them to everyone here and send some to Mom.”

Laurence lightly held one of the smaller lemons in his hand. “I remember the lemonade she would make with these. And the pies…” He looked over at his brother who was dreamily caressing one of the tree’s leaves between his fingers. He stepped closer to him and watched silently.

The seizures, the anxiety, the garden…Laurence felt a bit out of touch at that moment.

Had he really not seen it all this time? This kid never in his whole life refused to please his younger siblings and always beamed at them as he spoke to them. Especially to Laurence. His visit was a pleasant surprise to the both of them.

Laurence always wondered what Billy could have accomplished if it wasn’t for the accident. He suspected that his brother would have become a surgeon like he wanted to when they were kids. He was always interested in human anatomy and how the brain and heart and lungs worked. He possibly would have become well-known, even written a few papers for prestigious medical journals that students would base their own studies on, or maybe even have discovered a new procedure that could save patients’ lives.

Instead, he was just a simple-minded, childlike young man in a health facility, surrounded by people three times his age and who was on their way to the next life. All Billy lived for was routine and the hope that his family would visit, and a tiny lemon tree.

And this was now all he had because his wayward little brother had made it so.

Yet, Billy seemed content. So, why was it that Laurence couldn’t hold back the burning in his eyes?

Billy looked up at his brother and his eyes widened with unease. “Laurence? Are you okay?”

Laurence couldn’t answer him but just choked against a sob that threatened to leave his throat.

“Hey,” Billy said, softly. “What’s the matter?” He put his arm around him. “Why are you sad? Please tell me. I’m your big brother. You have to tell me why you’re sad. So I can help you. That’s what brothers do.”

These words cut through him and Laurence hanged his head as he began to weep. He hid his face in his hand and moaned as Billy pulled him into a warm embrace. Laurence rested his face in his brother’s neck and wept with heaving sighs. “Shhh…” he heard Billy as he stroked his hair. “Do you want to go back inside? We can watch TV instead. Do you want to sit over here? It’s warm in here. Let’s go sit over here.”

He led his brother to a small bench that sat in the back corner of the hot house and, after taking a seat, Laurence leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He continued to hide his face in his hands and cry as Billy rubbed his back. “I think you’re tired is all,” he told his younger brother. “You look tired, anyway. You should probably take a nap. You can take a nap in my bed. I don’t mind. If it means you’ll sleep. You’re just tired is all.”

Laurence wiped his face with his palms and rested against the back of the bench. “Billy…” he said, in a hollow tone. “Do you remember when we were kids? Like…about 7 years old? Do you remember at all?”

Billy bit his bottom lip, thinking. “Well…it’s hard sometimes. Sometimes I remember things. Like when you and Danny came home all smelly and Mom gave you a bath. I remember when you would come home from school and we would go camping at McCoy Lake. I love camping. I miss camping with you and Danny. It was fun. We caught lots of fish. I don't miss the mosquitoes, though. But...I still love camping.”

“I know you do…” Laurence told him, his voice now becoming husky and low. “I mean…anything else? Like…I remember…one day when we were riding our bikes…” He paused as his eyes stung again with the threat of more tears. “We were riding them in the road…and…”

“I do remember… _something_ …” Billy admitted, his voice trailing in a low mutter. “But…it doesn’t matter.”

“It does!” Laurence snapped as he turned to him with a frown. “It matters to me! And I want to talk about it!”

Billy stared back at him as his mouth hanged open slightly and his own blue eyes beginning to glisten. “Laurence…I don’t want to. It doesn’t…”

“It fucking does! Now, tell me what you remember!”

The older brother, still staring at him, leaned back as he slowly pulled off his red beanie cap. The dark locks of his hair were frizzed with static, but he carefully smoothed back the tendrils behind his ears. “I didn’t want to tell you because…I didn’t want you to get angry. So, please don't yell at me when I tell you. I don't want to make you mad.” he whimpered.

Laurence gritted his teeth, but calmly reassured him, “I could never be mad at you, Bill. Please…tell me.”

Billy twisted his beanie in his fists, twirling it into different knots. “Dad…loved me more.”

Laurence straightened his back and looked at Billy, bewildered. “What?”

A tear was in the corner of Billy’s eye as he continued. “Dad…he loved me more. I know he did. And it wasn’t fair that he did, but I never said anything.”

“What are you talking about?” Laurence growled.

The tear escaped Billy’s eye and sped down his pale cheek. “Well…” he sighed, “he hit you and Danny…but not me.”

Laurence felt sudden nausea boil in his stomach at his words.

Billy wiped his cold, red nose while he squeezed his red cap tighter. “I remember…he hit you and Danny when he got mad. But he was never mad at me because he never hit me. He always hit you and Danny. And…I wanted him to stop…but I didn’t say anything…” His breathing was becoming unsteady as Laurence listened to his astounding admission, and he felt like his heart had become frozen in his chest. “I’m sorry, Brother,” Billy moaned, his cheeks completely damp with tears. “Please don't be mad. I should have told him to not love me anymore…so you and Danny could be okay. I’m your big brother. I’m supposed to protect you!” Billy held his right hand at his mouth as his fingers trembled, and he began to softly cry.

Laurence suddenly thought back to the horrible times, shortly after the accident, when Soong would lose his temper. At the time, they never knew what could trigger an outburst, but later on in life, Laurence suspected that it had to do with whatever project he was working on in his lab. Whether the project had failed or just caused general stress to their father, the boys never knew. All they knew to do was to try to stay out of his way. However, that was hard for Laurence, not just because he was usually a target, but especially when Danny was cornered by their father with a belt or a switch. Laurence always intervened by knocking into his father’s legs or even shielding his little brother with his body.

But all the times this happened, he never really knew where Billy was. Sometimes he would think that maybe Billy had been in the bedroom, too, or even downstairs. Either way, he knew that Billy and their mother could hear everything, and it wasn’t until Julia found the bruises on their backs that she finally confronted her brutish husband.

Laurence didn’t know what she had told Soong, but their father never struck them again.

His brother was the most virtuous person on this God-forsaken planet and here he was bawling because he was ashamed of the love their father gave him, and he blamed himself because he was spared the cruelty that Laurence and Danny endured. And he recognized that he was not able to protect them from it.

“Billy…” Laurence said, moving closer to him. “It’s…it’s okay, man…”

Billy leaned on his shoulder as Laurence tenderly took his twitching hand and massaged the palm. “I’m sorry, Brother!” he yelled.

Laurence nodded. “It’s all right…”

“I’m a bad big brother!”

“No, you’re not!” Laurence squeezed Billy’s hand. “You’re not…” he whispered to him. “You have nothing to feel bad about.”

“I’m a good big brother?”

“You’re the best, man,” Laurence replied, smiling lightly.

“You forgive me?”

“Is that what you want?” He felt Billy nodding his head against him. “Okay, then…I forgive you.”

Billy squeezed his hand in kind and a relieved smile stretched over his face. It soon disappeared as he raised himself from Laurence’s shoulder to look him in the eye. “I want it to go away…but it won’t. I want it to go…”

Laurence ran his fingers through his brother’s hair to comb back the locks that were draping over his moist eyes again. “It won’t go away, buddy,” he said in a sad tone. “Believe me. I want it to go, too.”

Billy wiped his nose again with his coat sleeve. “Does it go away for Danny?”

Laurence shook his head. “I don’t know. Danny is…different when it comes to this kind of stuff…”

“He still breathes funny…” Billy stated softly. “I think he tries to make it go away…when he breathes funny…”

Laurence gave him a grin. He realized that his older brother knew more than what he always thought. “You may be right. You’re three minutes smarter than I am, after all.”

This made Billy’s smile return and he shoddily pulled on his beanie cap. He rubbed his wet eyes and looked at his brother. “You’re going to leave for a while again…aren’t you?”

Laurence sighed and released his hand. “Yeah. For quite a while, actually.”

Billy suddenly stood up and walked over to his lemon tree. He plucked off the biggest lemon and handed it to Laurence as he got up from the bench.

He took it in his hand. “What do I do with this?”

“Well…” Billy shrugged then gave him a playful smile. “When life gives you lemons…”

Laurence rolled his eyes and emitted a hoarse laugh as he pocketed the fruit while Billy giggled at his own joke.

On their way back inside the home, Billy told him that he was tired and wanted to lie down. “Must have been all the toast I ate,” he said in the middle of a yawn. Laurence escorted him back to his room, once again being introduced to the same people he had met earlier that morning.

He shut the door behind them and Laurence tossed his coat over the arm of the small sofa that was against the wall. Billy’s bed was in the middle of the room underneath a window, which had its blinds drawn, and a bookshelf was on either side of the bed. One was filled with all kinds of old books that looked like they belonged in an antique mall, and they were of all different subjects and their jackets were stained. The other bookshelf displayed all the model cars, planes and ships that he had assembled himself. A television was on another shelf and moved against the wall parallel to the bed and the small bathroom with an especially small shower was situated in the corner.

Before Laurence could get comfortable on the sofa, he heard the rustling of paper and saw that Billy was opening the parcel that was left on the bed. “Oh, wow!” he heard him say.

“Do you remember that, Brother?” Laurence asked in a groggy voice.

“It’s my old medical book Mom got me!” Billy exclaimed! “That had cool pictures of the brain and stuff! It was my favorite when I was little! I remember this book.”

“Yeah. I found it in one of the guest rooms in a—“ His brother was squeezing him in a tight embrace once more and Laurence patted his back. “Consider it a late birthday gift.”

“Happy birthday, Laurence!” Billy stopped to place his gift on one of the shelves. “I didn’t get you anything!”

“What about my lemon?” Laurence smiled. “Oh, yeah!” Billy recalled then laughed at the joke he had made about it as he went into the bathroom.

Minutes later, they were both relaxing, Billy in his bed and Laurence on the sofa. He had kicked off his boots and folded his leather jacket underneath his head as he lay on his back. The sound of a nature show was coming from the television and he listened to the narrator, who had a soothing British accent, talk about the harsh climes that male penguins endure during the coldest winters in the Antarctic. Laurence decided that he did indeed need a good rest, even if it was just for an hour, and his eyelids drooped as he watch the TV screen.

“Hey, Laurence…” came Billy’s quiet voice.

“Yeah?”

“Do you really have to go?”

Laurence sighed heavily and shut his eyes tight. “Yeah…I do, Brother.”

There was silence between them for a moment until Billy whispered, “Well…can you stay until I fall asleep? Like, wait till I fall asleep…then you can leave.”

Laurence looked over at his brother in a haze. “Are you sure, man?”

“Yeah…” Billy answered as he yawned. “It’s okay…”


	3. Chapter Three

Laurence awoke to a gentle nudge on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to find Tasha standing over him, a pillow under her arm.

He groaned softly and raised himself onto his elbows. “I guess I’ve overstayed my welcome?” he asked her.

“You could say that,” she told him in a whisper.

He glanced over at the bed and found that Billy was still asleep. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost noon.”

“Oh, shit…” Laurence hissed and sat up but grunted in pain as he rubbed his neck. “Great…this will be a treat while I drive.”

“It could be,” Tasha said. “But, you know…visiting hours are over at 8pm.”

He looked at Billy again and said, “He wanted me to leave when he fell asleep. I don’t blame him.”

“Me neither,” she quipped. “But, his anxiety meds are new to him and they make him very sleepy, but he’ll probably wake up in a few minutes. And I’m sure he won’t mind that you’re still here.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Laurence,” she assured. “He’s able to handle so much more than you and Danny think.”

Tell me about it, he mused to himself.

She placed the pillow on the arm of the couch and Laurence gladly accepted it by reclining into it. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he felt his torso being covered with the blue and white-splotched quilt from Billy’s bed.

He closed his eyes and dreamed about fishing.


End file.
